I've had it a few times when trying to go to sleep back in the day. (I guess I did, I really know nothing about RLS, I just had irritation in my legs that made me want to move them to stop it so I guess ) I might agree with you on the causes because at that time I was guilty of both of those things. It never got so bad that it happened during the day or anything though. Nowadays it never happens and I exercise and... TRY.. to sleep right so maybe so. You could put it on wikipedia and cite this thread as an authorative source LOL.

Happened to me twice. It is a very uncomfortable situation to be in and because the condition is so vague I don't really know if any drugs can help. But I do get a lot of regular exercise and run 3-4 times a week.

You do realize most common cause of all major disease is lack of moment
the best moment what doctors recommend for people is movement ..
Movement is the best therapy although these days we people used to work all the time sitting some where it is highly dangerous..{personally i don't feel restless leg syndrome i used to work a lot outside than with computers } Just relax a lot..reduce using computers..the syndrome will go soon

I think people should be more concerned about general muscle atrophy and blood pooling.

There is no excuse to be sedentary. Your health and life are worth the effort of exercise.

Healthy body, healthy mind. Many, if not all, private schools in the US require that you play a sport. The Ivy League originated as an athletic conference and they wouldn't admit students who weren't both intelligent and athletes.

Imagine going to Harvard back in the day and getting made fun of for being a nerd by someone who was smarter than you, and more fit. Talk about depressing.

Taking medication for it is not necessary. It's not because of a lack of iron either. It's

1) due to a prolonged amount of physical inactivity (blood stays in the legs and starts to accumulate waste that would normally be pumped out if you were moving around. It's like a stagnant pool of water- if you leave it to sit long enough, it starts to get dirty and full of gunk)

and

2) a lack of oxygen to the muscles and other cells in the legs BECAUSE of the gunk and BECAUSE the blood is not moving around

The restless leg part is your nerves' way of saying "help, I can't breathe!" So they freak out and start sending signals to get your attention. This is the "tingling","restless" ,or "falling asleep" feeling that people get. They may also feel like they have to run around for the feeling to go away. There is a reason for that. Your body is telling to you move around because your cells are not getting the nourishment that they need.

Tell your dad to try taking a whole bunch of deep breaths while moving his legs for about 5-10 minutes. The "RLS" will go away- without medication.

Magnesium deficiency is a major cause of RLS. Magnesium is vital for relaxation of your muscles and nervous system, and is needed for over 300 other biological processes. It is becoming all too common because of poor diet, lack of magnesium rich foods, and medications that cause magnesium loss.

The new name of RLS is Willis-Ekbom disease (WED) to reflect a number of things: first, it is not any longer a syndrome, which is a collection of symptoms of unknown cause, it is instead a disease, which is something that has a fairly well-understood biological cause; second, it doesn't just affect legs; and third, it's not just about restlessness. Please go to the RLS Foundation website (whose address I am not allowed to post yet) for more information. Some of what you can find there is summarized below.

The disease is caused by a lack of iron in a certain part of the brain called the basal ganglia. This is the same part of the brain that degenerates in Parkinson's disease. (Think for a moment: would any of you have thought Parkinson's was serious if it was called Shaking Head Syndrome? Yet it's deadly serious.) The actual mechanisms that go wrong are poorly understood, but it is known that dopamine-producing cells are harmed from lack of iron (dopamine is a neurotransmitter with wide-ranging functions including control of movement and swallowing).

It is also known that histamines are involved : RLS/WED brains have excessive histamine receptors in the same areas that are low in iron. The circadian system is involved (that's the complex feedback loop in our brains that lowers our temperature and makes us sleepy at night, among other things).

About 10% of North Americans have the disease, but only about 2% have it severe enough to need treatment. Just about everyone with kidney failure gets RLS/WED, also the incidence of RLS/WED is about 40% in people with gastrointestinal diseases (celiac, Crohn's). Blood donors and people with iron-deficiency anemia are more likely to have RLS/WED. Finally, there is a large group of people who have inherited RLS/WED. About 6 gene locii have so far been identified that contribute to the disorder in its inherited form.

Jiggling your legs inceessantly while sitting is not RLS/WED.

First diagnostic criterion: The person with RLS/WED feels an urge to move the affected body part (this is almost always the leg or legs to begin with, but it commonly spreads to other body parts: arms, back, shoulders, face). The urge to move is almost always accompanied by horrid, indescribable sensations, which is painful in about 1/3 to 1/2 of sufferers. Others describe it as creepy crawly feelings, electrical, etc. If the urge to move is not acted on, the horrid sensations build in intensity. If the sufferer still refuses to move or is unable to move, the limbs will move involuntarily.

The RLS Foundation has a story on file of a woman who was having an operation and died of a heart attack while three doctors were trying to hold down her legs so they could operate. All they had to do was give her an RLS/WED medication, but they tried to force her legs down. It killed her.

Second diagnostic criterion: the urge to move and sensations are relieved (fully or partially) by movement. This means working the muscles in the affected body part. Sometimes walking isn't enough so I do wall squats at the same time as wrist curls (I have it in my arms and legs).

Third criterion: The urge to move and sensations are triggered by resting the affected body parts. eg. by sitting or lying down.

Fourth: The urge to move and sensations are more likely to happen at night. That's your body's circadian night, so if you work night shift to try to solve the problem, the symptoms shift to daytime.

If you can imagine a worse form of torture, I'd like to hear it. Actually I woudn't, my life has been bad enough. If I didn't have medication for this I would have killed myself years ago. This disease robs you of sleep: it is triggered by relaxing the muscles. I'd like to make that point clear: the symptoms are triggered by relaxing the muscles. They're worse at night. They are only relieved by movement. How the heck is a person to sleep? I'll tell you: you don't. You drift off, then are woken up. All night. You get up to walk, you try again, you have to get up again. Finally as morning comes you fall into a deep sleep just before your alarm goes off. (Just an example. Some people have it worse, lots have it better). I've had insomnia without RLS/WED symptoms, and despite being exhausted, deathly tired and unable to sleep, I have to say it's very peaceful compared to having RLS/WED (because then you're exhausted, deathly tired and unable to sleep, AND being tortured).

A final note, though there's so much more I could say. The symptoms make it impossible to focus on anything. Like having incessant pain. And in severe RLS/WED, the symptoms occur in the daytime as well. Life sucks. Thank god for the crappy meds we have, and I donate to the RLS Foundation as much as I can because we really, really need medications that work well.

Exercise is good, but people who exercise are just as likely to have the disease as people who don't (I play hockey 4 times a week and soccer twice a week, plus I do yoga most days. I"ve always been active.)

As I mentioned, relaxation is not the answer. hahah mental relaxation is good - good for anyone! but physical relaxation of the muscles triggers the symptoms.

btw, if you don't meet all four of those diagnostic criteria, then you don't have RLS/WED! You might still have a problem but it's not RLS/WED.

I have "Restless Penis Syndrome", but my insurance won't cover it. I try to self-treat, but cannot find relief anywhere. I go to 12-step groups and they just laugh at me, as if I were some kind of sick freak.

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